Dominic Ongwen to Stand Trial Alone at the ICC

Dominic Ongwen a Brigade Commander of the Sinia Brigade of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is set to stand trial with three other suspects Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti and Okot Odhiambo.

The Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced on February 6th 2015 by Single Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova that they will sever proceedings against Dominic Ongwen from the case The Prosecutor v. Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen .

The three other suspects in the case have yet to be apprehended, as a result the chamber decided not to proceed in absentia.

On 8th July 2005, ICC judges issued an arrest warrant against Mr.Ongwen for three counts of crimes against humanity (murder, enslavement and inhumane acts of inflicting serious bodily injury and suffering) and four counts of war crimes allegedly committed on or around the 20th May 2004 at the Lukodi IDP camp in the Gulu District.

Mr. Ongwen was surrendered to the ICC’s custody on 16th January 2015. His first court appearance took place on the 26th January 2015.